December 26, 2010

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A group of conservatives on the Republican National Committee’s governing board has launched an “Anybody but Steele” campaign and are gathering pledges from other committee members not to back the beleaguered RNC chairman, POLITICO has learned.

Members of the Republican National Conservative Caucus held a conference call and sent e-mails last week in an attempt to build support for what they’re calling a “Resolution of Commitment.”

The same group is also working on a similar, but far more targeted, campaign to persuade the five Republicans challenging Steele not to strike an agreement with him that might improve his prospects — what they call a “No Deal With Steele Pledge.”

James Bopp, RNC member from Indiana and a leader of the RNCC, declined to offer specifics about how many pledges the group had received for either effort, directing inquiries to Oregon RNC member Solomon Yue, another RNCC leader. Yue wouldn’t respond to an e-mail.

But the conservatives’ Dump Steele effort has caught the attention of the incumbent’s loyalists and just before Christmas touched off an angry, racially tinged e-mail exchange between Bopp, a supporter of Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reince Priebus's bid to lead the RNC, and Idaho GOP Chairman — and Steele backer — Norm Semanko.

In a Thursday e-mail to Bopp and Yue that he copied to the 168 members of the RNC, Semanko complained that an e-mail had been forwarded to him about the conference call that was aimed at garnering signatures for the anti-Steele efforts.

“The e-mail was only sent to 26 RNC members … far less than the 90-plus RNC members that belong to the Conservative Caucus,” Semanko, the party’s new general counsel, wrote in the e-mail, obtained by POLITICO.

Ostentibly, Semanko’s gripe was that Bopp and Yue failed to notify other RNC members. He suggested that they were abusing their role atop the conservative bloc of RNC members in what was plainly an attempt to expose their efforts. But he also touched on what he thought the impact might be of their underlying campaign to rally opposition to Steele

“Concern has been expressed among members of the Caucus that these two anti-Steele pledges/resolutions could be viewed as hateful toward Chairman Steele — regardless of what benign names they may be given,” Semanko wrote. “They are also considered arbitrary in that they, quite literally, purport to support anyone but Chairman Steele, without consideration of any particular candidate's qualifications.”

To this, Bopp responded with seeming fury.

“Norm, are you some liberal professor at some liberal arts college enforcing their ‘hate speech’ prohibition?” he demanded of the Idaho GOP chairman. “Is our brand-spanking-new general counsel now the self-appointed speech police? Or were you asked by Chairman Steele to assume this role?”

Continuing, Bopp inferred that by “hateful” Semanko was alluding to perceptions about how the party was treating its first black national chairman.

“I know that liberals view any criticism of someone's conduct to be ‘hateful,’ if the person happens to be black, etc,, but I was unaware that we at the RNC had adopted such a political speech code,” he wrote. “In my view, it is not 'hateful' to decide not to vote for Steele because one views his conduct in office to be detrimental to the interests of the Republican Party and the country, even though he happens to be black. To suggest otherwise is playing the race card, again, and it would seem that your considerable legal talents could better be used mounting a substantive defense of Steele, rather than trying to enforce some non-existent and destructive censorship regime on the RNC.”

By “again,” Bopp was referring to Steele’s comment, in declaring his reelection bid, that the party’s willingness to reelect him would “speak volumes about our willingness to truly be the party of Lincoln.”

An aggrieved Semanko responded that he was merely asking “some simple procedural questions” about the conservative caucus.

“Rather than acknowledging my concerns and answering my questions directly, you have chosen to level a personal attack on me — a fellow member of the RNC and the Conservative Caucus,” he wrote, adding, “That is unfortunate, but I accept it for what it is; just more angry and negative than anything I could have imagined from a fellow conservative Republican.”

Semanko concluded: “I'm sorry to have taken up your time today. Blessings for a wonderful Christmas season and a happy New Year.”

It's not clear that the RNCC's anti-Steele campaign will even be necessary. Since announcing his reelection bid, the embattled chairman has won little additional support beyond his small band of loyalists on the committee. He suffered another blow Sunday night when Priebus announced that he had picked up the backing of California committeeman Shawn Steel, previously a staunch backer of the incumbent.

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James Bopp is a traitor and a Judas to the pro-life movement. He claims to be a conservative but he is fraud.
Read how he sold out the pro-life movement.
http://americanrighttolife.org/news/legacy-judas-response-bopp

We need a Tea Party cleansing of the entire RNC. All of these people are frauds and fakes. All of them are RINO's!! One RINO against another RINO and then we are stuck with the RINO that wins.
Steele, Bopp, they all need to be kicked out.
How can Bopp support Reince Priebus a person whose own law firm was getting Obama stimulus money? According to The National Review, the ‘Stimulus and Economic Recovery’ is listed as one of his services on his biography.
How about term limits for RNC leaders? The average conservative activist has no say in what these people do.
In addition, the guy supports eminent domain (the seizure of peoples property)
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/255428/rnc-candidates-firm-sought-stimulus-funds-brian-bolduc
http://biggovernment.com/driehl/2010/12/21/is-reince-priebus-eminent-domain-liberalism/

This is just another skirmish in the war over control of the Republican Party. You have the voter-supported tea party sympathizers warring with the old-guard go-along-to-get-along business-as-usual RINOs.
There was a similar battle over control of the Democratic party between the marxists and the common people, but apparently the marxists have won that one pretty handily.

Nick, whatever. But I'd like to know your thoughts on why it ALWAYS DEMONRATS who are trying to DESTROY freedom of speech. Are you for Barry regulating SPEECH on the internet. Obviously he will ban me. Think how enlightening the posts will be from you tards. "Barry is the greatest. Barry is the smartest. Barry is the best, bla bla bla".... I thought you TARDS were FOR rights??? Funny!!! CONSERVATIVES are ther ONLY ones defending rights, freedom, liberty. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

@ killerbee -> again, your stunning ability to misunderstand an issue is amazing. Yep, you will no longer have freedom of speech. Us "demonrats" are after you, and, just as you expected, we are the ones flying those black helicopter. PUT THAT TINFOIL HAT BACK ON!! unless you want Obama reading your dreams!!

killerbee you might want to try reading the articles instead of just looking at the pictures. The FCC is trying to prevent private companies from controlling the internet, so that individuals like you and I can retain free speech.

Nick, I guess you missed "Rev" Al Sharpton's tirade against talk radio. MSNBC must not have reported on it. You see, Rev Al wants conservative talk radio stopped. There is NO liberal talk radio as that experiment ended with a loud thud. I'm not sure who that racist bigot Al Sharpton thinks he is but I'm sure you support EVERYTHING he wants. But your naive enough to think that they'll just stop at conservative speech, aren't ya.

I am not surprized that Steele is no longer in favor. The only reason the Republicans wanted him to head the RNC was for show. "Hey look we got a Black guy for our RNC" Poor Steele. He must feel like an unwanted step-child.

Posted By: I am not surprized that Steele is no longer in favor. The only reason the Republicans wanted him to | December 27, 2010 at 10:35 AM

@ killerbee -> well then if rev sharpton who doesn't hold any elected office whatsoever wants to get rid of conservative radio that MUST mean that all democrats are out to shut down your free speech. Yep, very rational reaction you have there.

Concerns about Michael Steele have nothing to do with his race. We have reservations based on his performance...and nothing else. Why is the RNC lagging in fundraising? It's because conservatives like myself no longer trust the RNC to make truly conservative decisions....and it's why contributions direct to conservative candidates has increased. It is as simple as that. Combine Steele's dismal management of the RNC's funds and you can see why many Americans have lost confidence in him and the organization.
Not saying he's a bad guy he's very likable....but that will not get the job done that is needed in 2012 to unseat Barack Obama.

Reince Priebus is a disaster, probably the worst person the RNC could have at the helm right now. Google "Is Liberalism Reince Priebus’ Eminent Domain?" and "Is Reince Priebus ‘Shovel Ready’ in Race For RNC Chair?", both on BigGovernment.com.

Steele needs to back down and let someone else do the job.
A bunch of the Elephants need to step beck and determine who the best leader will be.
"This" is the "most important step", being taken right now. You need a quality leader with a strong constitution, consumate wit, and a strong backbone, but with a reasonable ego.
Also, think "term limits". Move in fresh blood with good ideas.

4:52 Nope. We just don't want a moderate RINO runningf the party at a time when we have TARDS on the run. Didn't LIBERAL/GEORGE SOROS/NPR just FIRE the ONLY African American on air personality for simply stating an opinion that surely a HUGE MAJORITY of Americans also believe? RACISM is the ONLY explanation for Juan Williams firing. BIGOT RACIST Demonrats. Don't worry. FOX News gave Juan a splendid job. Ya see, FOX does't DISCRIMINATE against Blacks like NPR/GEORGE SOROS AND THE DEMONRAT PARTY does. Fox also believe's in FREE SPEECH. Remember when the Demorats believed in free speech?

lol@"love our freedom" Who doesn't?
Well, well, well... peace is definitely not in the valley in GOPerland. Its more like bizarro world and the fascists, who claim to love them some Constitution .. oh, but after they change it by rolling it back 150 years or more, are winning. But, go right ahead rightwingers, show America how eager you are to "purge" the GOP of moderate conservatives and especially, the black RNC chair, who seriously has not screwed up nearly as bad as Palin (quitter), Gingrich (cheater AND ethical degenerate) and some of your other illustrious elites in the party... ALL with sordid pasts, shaky credentials and/or pathetic experience in leadership. ETHICS and rule of law are not GOP strong points.
But, anyhoo.. I've got my popcorn ready for the RNC Convention in '12, which ought to be a doozy, if there aren't echo's in the convention hall because the "PURGE" worked so well.
hehe

The Steele fiasco can't end positively no matter how this ends because it began with a cynical and kneejerk decision to elect him. There is no good outcome. They can't unring the bell. If he's reelected, not good. If he isn't, not good. You all deserve each other. With Steele as RNC Chairman, the Republicans won big in 2010. Got rid of him in 2011 right before Obama gets reelected in 2012 and Democrats regain seats in the House and Senate. Yes, it's going to happen because Republicans haven't really changed since Bush/Cheney, and there you go. A topsy turvy discumbobulated GOP season of cannibalism.

So funny! The repubs have no more taste for the token Steele now that Obama's initial minority appeal has worn off. Just as quickly as he was brought in as a savior, they have now thrown him under the bus.

I have no doubt that being black helped get Steele elected. But he is going to be fired for being lousy at his job. That he would even imply that not re-electing him would demonstrate that the Republican party was not the party of Lincoln shows what a loser this guy turned out to be. He played the race card like a Democratic pro.
Really the only person comparable to him in politics is our current president. Obummer got elected because he was black. (Had he been a white male would he have beaten out Hillary Clinton for the nomination?) He will lose in 2012 because he is a lousy at his job. And a number of times he has made statements about Republican voters rejecting him because such people won't vote for someone "not like themselves".
Our post-racial president plays the race card every chance he gets. Republicans don't need to hear the same filth coming from Steele.
Eugene WR Gallun

This is another delusional moment for the conservative wing of the party. As usual, they get a little taste of power and suppose that the entire country is hyper-conservative. I really wish the rest of the committee people would grow a spine, and stand up to these clowns. Does anyone realize what it looks like to throw out one of the most successful RNC chairmen after a historic election? Throw on top of that he's African American, and he raised almost $200m for the RNC. He was short almost the same amount Duncan, Rove, and Gillespie raised with American Crossroads. I understand the party really dosen't care to look forward, or the perception of the party is, but most of this country lives in the middle, or leans slightly right. When it comes time to woo the moderates and reach out to the African American vote, they're going to look at the GOP, and say "a black man had the best record since the forties, and he still got fired". The reason we are talking about this in the public arena, is because the GOP elites couldn't fire someone with his record. This is a travesty to watch, and booting an African American RNC chairman with a winning record, just shows the GOP just dosen't get the rest of this country.

So as we can all see.The bitter screaming childeren arein charge. Typical rightwing fanatics screaming and sending each other hatemail.
But you just know.... Liberals made em do it. They don't have a pair amongst them to own their own hate and cowardice.
Get the popcorn. It's going to be a hoot watching the mcconnel corp lackies vs theDemint and the teabagger freaks meltdown comming up
.
Meanwhile the most Admired People In America are the Democratic President and his Sec of State Clinton. That would be according to the actual PEOPLE ya know. Not the imaginary ones in the freaks rightwing heads.

Many Republicans and conservatives had high hopes for Michael Steele, but he has consistently failed to meet expectations: he has failed to manage the RNC's finances effectively, spending lavishly, hiring cronies, and leaving the RNC deeply in debt; he has lost the trust of significant donors; he has undermined conservative candidates; he has make his position about him, not the Republican Party or conservative values; and, now, he plays the race card in a pathetic attempt to keep his lucrative JOB.

Hey Steele... don't shoot till you see the Marshall Applewhite's of their eyes.... The purple shrouded, nike wearing, limp wristed RINO's, masquerading as conservatives are acting like Liberals... They want to punish success and reward failure... That is what LIBERALS do.... Steele delivered 63 House seats, 6 Senate seats, 6 Governors mansions and over 500 State House seats and these clown fool conservative pretenders want to throw him out???.... .. The only people who need to be dumped are the alleged conservatives, who are really RINO cult members, who wannabee friends and get along with Obama, Reid and Pelosi.. and to the nitwit CatoRenosi who said Steele failed to meet expectations.... STEELE WON

The only thing definite about GOP anymore is that it admits blatantly...almost boasts...of its greediness and worships the feet of America's uber wealthy and corporations. At least that is one thing it doesn't lie about.

What's a Republican at 8:22AM... hey numbnut, the Democrats took in more money from Wall Street in this last election cycle than Republicans did... and that's a fact.
.... Obama and the Democrat Party of Goldman Sachs snookered you again.

Posted By: What's a Republican at 8:22AM... hey numbnut, the Democrats took in more money from Wall Street in t | December 28, 2010 at 09:12 AM

I am not a Steele fan, but he did do what he said it was going to do which is get Nancy P. fired. Now the racist GOP wants to kick this poor black man under the bus for doing just what he said he was going to do.

Fo shizzle my n-ggahzz! I been checkin out da fresh chopped and screwed beats down in H-town, and my nig, it is tizzite! You gots to get down with da lean tho, and to make da lean you gots to get down wit da SIZZURP! Cause you aint sh-t witout the SIZZURP!

Now, here is how you makes up some lean dawg - you get a cup of ice and you put in dat sizzurp. Next, you pop in a jolly rancher candy and top off wit sprite and now homie u got da sh-t! Purple drank boyeee! Dats the lean dawg, and u gots to rock da lean when jammin to da chopped and screwed beat. Holla at yo boy if you dont no bout da sizzurp, cause DJ Steele gots da hook up!

Now, I dont know why my boyz are out ta get me now, cause they loved my blackness before but all of a sudden it aint tight. Whassup with dat?

This is hilarious. To this outside observer (an independent), Steele has been a disaster and yet the Repub`s can`t even retire the guy without making a spectacle of themselves. Sheech. No wonder the inept Dems keep taking them to the cleaners!